| The New Residence, which was constructed in 1588, is home to the Salzburg Regional Museum.
Cultural and art history collections are housed in this Museum named after Empress Carolina Augusta. Paintings, crafts, coins, prints and musical instruments are displayed.
The former Carolino Augusteum, or, as locals used to call it, the "CA" was something like the mother of the museums in Salzburg until it was re-named into "Salzburg Museum" and moved to the Neue Residenz in 2006: Spread over five branches, it aimed to display and spread the history and culture of the city and province of Salzburg and its surroundings from prehistoric times to the present.
The Carolino Augusteum suffered for a long time the fate of many European museums: it smelled very old, somewhat out-of-time and not very exciting as long as you were not really deep into the subject; however, things have changed over the last couple of years. The new Salzurg Museum is a modern museum with appealing, multimedia exhibitions and visitors with all sorts of backgrounds. The permanent exhibitions are supplemented by changing ones, by interactive programs, guided tours and youth workshops.
The main museum is still dedicated to the complete history of the city and province of Salzburg. Highlights from Celtic times include a Bronze helmet that was found near Werfen by the Pass Lueg, as well as the famous "Halleiner Schnabelkanne" from the Dürrnberg by Hallein; the area around the salt mines of Hallein were rich hunting grounds for local archaeologists, parts of the exhibition include information on the excavations that are still going one. |